Suwon City Changes Staff Names to Anonymous on Website to Block Malicious Complaints

by Lee YeongKyu

Published 26 Apr.2024 09:10(KST)

The city of Suwon in Gyeonggi Province will make the names of employees and office staff layout maps posted on the city’s website private starting May 1 to protect staff from malicious complaints.

This measure is to protect employees from various malicious complaints such as so-called “coordinate pinpointing,” which involves publicly disclosing public officials’ personal information online to provoke a “complaint bomb,” and stalking-type complaints.

Mayor Lee Jae-jun of Suwon met with young public officials who handle complaints on the 8th and said, “Acts that infringe on the human rights of public officials or insult their dignity through malicious complaints cannot be tolerated.” He requested the responsible department to make employee names and office staff layout maps private, reflecting the opinions of the staff.

Suwon City operates various support measures to respond to malicious complaints. Portable audio and video recording devices, which were previously provided only to complaint office workers, will be distributed to all departments handling complaints after conducting a demand survey.

Suwon Mayor Lee Jae-jun is talking with employees working in the civil service department at City Hall on the 8th.

Last year, Suwon City distributed 114 wearable cameras (video recording devices) and 441 public official badge recording cases (audio recording devices).

In addition, the city will simplify the application procedures so that public officials who have suffered from malicious complaints can easily claim psychological counseling fees, medical expenses, and legal consultation fees. It will also revise related regulations by strengthening institutional legal responses. An annual survey on cases of malicious complaint damage will be conducted to utilize the results when establishing employee protection and malicious complaint response measures.

Meanwhile, Suwon City has been operating the “Malicious Complaint Rapid Response Task Force Team” since April 1, which supports all response procedures from initial response to legal action against malicious complaints.

When a report is received through the malicious complaint counseling hotline and dedicated reporting channel, a veteran team leader with over 20 years of experience investigates the complaint site, interviews the responsible staff, and supports the resolution of the complaint.

A Suwon City official said, “Many public officials suffer due to malicious complaints,” and added, “We will actively establish measures to protect our employees.”